An Offer To Dance
by Lord Purple Heart
Summary: A little moment that could have happened during Episode 3. OneShot.


An Offer to Dance

_Now that the fuss is over, I can relax now. _

That thought ran through my head as I leaned back on the metal bars behind me. I let my head lean itself against the metal, and I felt the fatigue begin to sink into my being more and more.

Behind me, I could hear the noise of the crackling bonfire and the sound of bustling students going about their ridiculous business. As I stole glances from my high vantage point, I could see the students on the ground approach each other. The males held their hands out, and the girls would act a bit shy before taking his hand eagerly and walking with him to the bonfire area.

A bonfire dance.

I sighed and closed my eyes, allowing myself to escape from the reality of this situation.

I, Kenji Kazama, was now sitting alone on the roof of the school building overlooking the bonfire dance, which was a school event. If anything, this is what a delinquent should do. And I, the leader of Kazama's party, was aiming to put this school under my thumb one day.

_Well, it's impossible with all of the ridiculously strong girls here. _

I sighed in defeat as this thought crossed my mind, since it was fact more than it was opinion. I stared at my own hand and began to wonder just how this situation could possibly turn in my favor.

I had just resolved a conflict from one Game Development Club and my own Game Development Club, where the reasons, the people and the methods used in their interactions were highly questionable. In the end, it was a competition that helped to turn the tables around and solve the problem. Whether one of the competing clubs won or not is a different question in and of itself.

I'd like to think that my club had won, despite our own assets.

After all, we had forced several unrelated people to help us in a project that didn't involve them at all. If anything, I feel indebted to those people in the Student Council as well as my buddies from Kazama's Party.

I'd have to buy Yokoshima a big bucket of fried chicken to make up for it, no doubt. And maybe I'll treat Nageyama to lunch at the cafeteria or something.

Once I have enough money to risk such a thing, that is.

As my mind continued to drift, I could hear the door to the roof opening. I turned my attention to it, and I saw someone standing there.

She was a girl whose height challenged the limits of being in high school. She had blonde hair, with her bangs curving around her face. But despite her looks, she was capable of scaring me enough to be constantly wary. Trauma was not a word that was inappropriate for that description, with her being capable of using bags as her deadliest weapons.

The Fire/Darkness Type Club President of the Game Development Club, Roka Shibasaki.

Closing the door behind her, she skipped over to the spot near me and placed her hands on the metal railing. Lifting herself up, she stuck her feet into the spaces in between the bars. With this, she had effectively risen a foot higher.

_She's still shorter than me, even with that. _

I sighed and attempted to ignore the girl, but her presence and proximity were harder to ignore than I had assumed.

"Kazama, the folk dance seems to have started." She started the conversation off. Whether or not she could tell that I was trying to ignore her was another question.

She didn't deserve the treatment though, especially after all that she's gone through. Even if it looked like she was completely unaffected.

So I decided to respond.

"Sure has." I kept it short and simple though, as I felt more like resting than conversing with this Club President who clearly had a few screws loose.

Either she can't take the hints or she's ignoring them completely, but she continued the conversation.

"Are you not going down to dance?"She asked me, and I felt my being freeze up. It was the one thing I had decided I would rather not be doing in this situation. Once again, I was made painfully aware of the event happening on the ground far below us. I could hear the sound of those people enjoying themselves, laughing and talking, and I tried my best to shut out the sounds.

"Why do I have to participate in something like that? I'd rather stay up here." I responded tiredly, my body agreeing with me wholeheartedly.

Rather than my body being exhausted, my mind was actually the part of my body that required more rest than anything else.

After all, I ended up screaming punchlines more than anyone else in the school. The world, if I could be allowed to exaggerate.

A tiny moment of silence passed between us, and I decided not to glance at her. After the pause, she continued with another question.

"What did you think of the FuF Festival?"

The question made me think back to what happened. The competition, and the sides of the girls that I learned about.

"To be honest, it was pretty fun. That much, I have to admit." I confessed, scratching the back of my head.

"That's good to hear." She said back to me, her tone sounding relieved.

And for a moment, we just remained quiet. The silent companionship was enough for me, since it made me feel at ease. I felt my tired limbs and my exhausted mind approve of the restful mood.

As I felt the warmth from the setting sun strike my body and relax me even more, I closed my eyes. Drowsiness began to set in before Roka spoke again.

"...thank you, Kazama."

The words woke me up, and I turned my head to face Roka.

Was it my imagination, or was the sunlight making her look even cuter than she usually did? Her fire type attacks didn't work on me, but even I had to admit that Roka was cuter than the average high girl.

I wondered it if it would help if you considered that she was not an average high school girl at all.

"I'm glad that you joined my club." She said, her gaze never leaving the bonfire. I could see her eyes sparkling with the light of the gentle blaze.

They were sparkling behind the guise of a set of sunglasses and a fake mustache, though.

"If you're gonna go all emotional and say something mushy, then at least take that thing off." I said to her, a laugh bubbling from my words. I tried to hold it back, but I couldn't. The situation had quickly gone from deep and meaningful to a strange one.

It was always going to be this way with Roka, I guess.

"Grown attached to them?"

"Not really." She denied it, but I could tell with the way she spoke that she was unsure of the answer herself.

And another pause filled out the conversational gap.

"...Kazama."

I looked at her again. She stepped down from the railing and turned to face me, even removing her strange disguise to look at me in the eye.

"What? Something wrong?" I asked her.

"Please join me for the dance below." Something completely unexpected was emitted from this unpredictable girl's lips, and I ended up standing up quickly in response.

"Wh-why do I have to go down and do something like that with you?!"

"If you don't join me downstairs, then I'll hate you!"

_She activated her fire type mode again!  
_

"I stayed up here BECAUSE I didn't want to dance! Get a hint, runt!"

"Kazama, are you even taking me seriously...?"

_She activated her darkness type!_

"Honestly, don't go all weird and start switching personalities in front of me." I muttered and scratched the back of my head. "I'll go with you, so don't start bagging me."

She looked at me for a moment, and then she held out her hand.

"...I have to thank you for helping to solve this problem, so this is thanks to you as Club President."

I looked at her hand, and then I looked back at her. An exasperated smile spread across my face and I took her hand.

"Alright then, Club President. Guess I have no choice but to take you up on that."

_It'd be bad for me as a man if I don't follow through after having gone this far. _

I took her hand, despite the major embarrassment that I felt when I did. Heat began to pour off my face, and I felt conscious of the sensation of her hand in mine. It was small, and smooth, and far more feminine than I've ever known a hand to be.

"You know, it's not like I held my hand out because I wanted you to hold it or anything! Don't get the wrong idea!"

_I don't need your fire type blending in with tsundere-eqsue lines, Roka. _

"Well, shall we go? If you hold my hand for too long, even I'm going to start feeling embarrassed." Roka said, averting her gaze. If I looked any closer, I could spot a small portion of her cheek turning red.

Even I began to feel really embarrassed in this situation.

Left with no choice, we walked down to the bonfire area. I could hear the whispers of the students nearby who were looking at the two of us.

Things like, "Isn't he a delinquent?" "What's he doing here?" and "Who's that girl he's with?" rang in my ears.

It kind of pissed me off, and I shot a glare in the direction of the whispers I could hear. Instantly, the whispers ceased. I sighed and turned back to the massive blazing bonfire. Despite it's massive scale, it burned gently and calmly. None of the sense of danger that I sensed when Roka played around with fireworks was present.

As we danced in the circle, people giving the two of us a really wide berth, I felt kind of content. Roka's body, despite her size and frame, was graceful throughout her dance. Her movements were fluid, and she never hesitated once as she performed her side of the dance flawlessly.

I couldn't help but be astounded as she danced in front, beside and behind me. I felt as if she were beyond the level of a normal person.

_Well, she is. In more ways than one. _

I stopped my idle thoughts with that and smiled. Her being around me was making my life interesting, for sure.

Suddenly, I felt a small object press against the sole of my foot.

_Eh? What's this? _

I lifted my foot, only to see a small brown shoe. It was connected to a leg wearing black socks, which belonged to...

"...Kazama."

I only felt shivers and goosebumps from that look that she was giving me. Her hair was rustling and swaying, despite the lack of wind. The aura her body shot out made all my senses scream in fear. Even the other students had begun to take notice of Roka, and they began to give us even more space than the ridiculous amount of ground they had already left out.

_DARKNESS MODE IS HERE!_

Unexpectedly, I felt the aura suddenly vanish as if it had never existed. Roka's danger-filled eyes closed for a moment, and then they returned to a far more welcoming gaze.

"If you don't dance right, I'll kick you out of the club." She said with a smile.

"Well, I can't have that. You've put me through so much trouble. It'll be a waste if I left now." I shot back, tightening my grip on her hands.

She widened her eyes, then she smiled with a slight blush evident on her cheeks. She leaned in a bit closer and let her body rest on mine as we began the dance anew.

It felt a lot more comfortable and fun than earlier.


End file.
